Why the Foundation for the Next Generation?
I am you - a concerned parent, a citizen with a passion for excellence. The seed of this foundation started the night of my high school graduation. I vividly recall standing in my driveway and feeling totally lost. In spite of all my good test scores I had no idea of what to do next, and even worse, no idea how to figure it out. I decided to join the Army, thinking that age and experience would help me decide what I wanted to do. It didn't. I didn't figure out what I wanted to do until I started realizing how much harder it must be for kids now.
Year after year we hear how poorly our students score on basic proficiency tests. According to recent studies, 49% of the adult population reads at, or below an eighth grade level. Legislation gets passed, billions of dollars get spent, and yet things never seem to change. Meanwhile, the world gets more and more complex and even the rate of change keeps increasing. We have seen amazing advances in nearly every other area, but education has been flat for the last forty years. This is particularly upsetting when you think that educating the next generation is the most important thing we do as a society. It is truly the foundation of our society and yet we settle for less than mediocrity. This must change! Seeing these things got me started wondering what could be done about this situation and I eventually came up with the ideas for this foundation. If you would like to learn more about me and the start of this foundation, read the Letter from our Founder. |
Our Strategy
Phase 1- Provide online tools people can use now to help students succeed.
Goals of the Foundation for the Next Generation website:
· Be a vital resource for teachers, parents, students, and concerned citizens with one goal: Improve education.
· Hold forums and webinars to collectively share best teaching practices and share ideas of what works and what doesn’t work.
· Showcase the latest and proven methods to help students excel in reading and math.
· Publish testimonials and share success stories and innovations by successful educators.
· Interview and post student interviews – what are they thinking? What are their successes and failures?
Phase 2- Increase appreciation of the importance of education and what can be done now.
· Develop and implement an ongoing promotional/public relations campaign to help people realize the importance of education.
· Focus attention on the effectiveness of personal empowerment and individual responsibility.
· Strategically integrate traditional and social media to get the message out.
Phase 3- Develop a modern, effective K-12 education program.
· Attract a team of professionals from a broad range of disciplines - educators, cognitive scientists, linguists, child development specialists and others.
· Use a best practice approach to develop the teaching methodology.
· Analyze what knowledge and skills the ideal high school graduate would have and use that to reverse engineer the curriculum.
Goals of the Foundation for the Next Generation website:
· Be a vital resource for teachers, parents, students, and concerned citizens with one goal: Improve education.
· Hold forums and webinars to collectively share best teaching practices and share ideas of what works and what doesn’t work.
· Showcase the latest and proven methods to help students excel in reading and math.
· Publish testimonials and share success stories and innovations by successful educators.
· Interview and post student interviews – what are they thinking? What are their successes and failures?
Phase 2- Increase appreciation of the importance of education and what can be done now.
· Develop and implement an ongoing promotional/public relations campaign to help people realize the importance of education.
· Focus attention on the effectiveness of personal empowerment and individual responsibility.
· Strategically integrate traditional and social media to get the message out.
Phase 3- Develop a modern, effective K-12 education program.
· Attract a team of professionals from a broad range of disciplines - educators, cognitive scientists, linguists, child development specialists and others.
· Use a best practice approach to develop the teaching methodology.
· Analyze what knowledge and skills the ideal high school graduate would have and use that to reverse engineer the curriculum.
The first two strategies will help get our children a better education now.
The third strategy will provide an up-to-date K-12 education program to move into the future with.
Combining the best available teaching and learning techniques with the most advantageous curriculum will let us give our children a potent and effective education.
Integrating modern technology will let us make it fun, involving, and efficient.
Starting from scratch, with a clear vision of our goal will allow us to develop a truly integrated and comprehensive educational program that will provide our children with the best start in life.
The third strategy will provide an up-to-date K-12 education program to move into the future with.
Combining the best available teaching and learning techniques with the most advantageous curriculum will let us give our children a potent and effective education.
Integrating modern technology will let us make it fun, involving, and efficient.
Starting from scratch, with a clear vision of our goal will allow us to develop a truly integrated and comprehensive educational program that will provide our children with the best start in life.
Donate
This is the "pre-launch" version of our website. If you are here, chances are it is because someone invited you specifically to come. Please look around with a
constructively critical eye. We hope you will assist us to make this site as effective as possible. We hope we always continue to grow, but the more we can
do pre-launch, the better first impression we will make. Thank you for your time and your assistance, Michael V. Fowler, President fftng1@att.net
constructively critical eye. We hope you will assist us to make this site as effective as possible. We hope we always continue to grow, but the more we can
do pre-launch, the better first impression we will make. Thank you for your time and your assistance, Michael V. Fowler, President fftng1@att.net
